Joao Havelange

•Under him, football became a truly global sport. But then, FIFA also lost its innocence

From a basically Euro-centric game, with a smattering of participation from the Americas, Jean-Marie Faustin Goddfroid (Joao, for short) de Havelange, the Brazilian of Portuguese extraction, turned football into a truly global sports, with the full involvement and participation of the Africa, Asia and Oceania federations.

But then under him, the Federation of International Football Federations (FIFA) lost its innocence and rectitude, with the infusion of big money via aggressive marketing, television earnings and sponsorship rights. Therefore, the corruption scandals that would wreck FIFA under Sep Blatter, Mr. Havelange’s protégé and successor, had their root under the Brazilian.

Mr. Havelange, a trained lawyer who earned a PhD in law at 24, not-so-successful athlete (he was involved in both swimming and cycling before football) and second longest serving FIFA president (1974-1998), after only Frenchman, Jules Rimet, FIFA’s third president (1921-1954), died on August 16, more than two months after his 100th birthday. He was born on May 8, 1916.

Despite the whiff of alleged corruption that plagued his long tenure, especially after introducing big money into the game, it is doubtful if anyone, so far, could claim greater contribution to the growth and global appeal of football. The political Third World, minus the likes of Brazil, Argentina and the other soccer tigers of South America, therefore owe the Brazilian a debt of gratitude.

For many youths in these economically backwards regions of the world, global football integration made a difference between a life of grinding poverty and glittering prosperity. Football, as big global business, would appear a practical demonstration of globalisation, where the Third World appears not-too-short-changed. Youths from any part of the world, with enough talents to spare, just migrate to Europe, still the global football epicentre, to play and earn money to secure the good life.

But that is at the individual level. At the corporate or national level, Mr. Havelange’s introduction of age-grade football (U-17 and U-21 World Cups, as well as the U-23 cadre which now competes in the Olympics, aside from Female FIFA World Cup, complete with U-17 and U-21 championships, and the FIFA Confederations Cup) has helped many nations, to find their voice in global football.

Nigeria, for instance, has made hay as the most successful country in the U-17 World Cup. Ghana too has won the FIFA Youth Championships (Under-21). After Nigeria, Cameroon also has won the Olympic football gold. All these feats have resulted, either directly or indirectly, from Mr. Havelange’s consistent and deliberate reforms, when he was FIFA president.

Indeed, the reforms were no more than promises kept, after Mr. Havelange lobbied Africa, Asia and Oceania to defeat Englishman, Stanley Rous, at the 39th FIFA congress in 1974. In return, the World Cup was to be expanded, from 16 to 32 teams, under Mr. Havelange. He oversaw six World Cups, between 1994 and 1998.

With Coke and Adidas pouring money into football, expanded television rights and lucrative marketing deals, football became one of the richest, and by far the most popular, group sports in global history. But then with big money came big evil in alleged stupendous sleaze, which gradually tore away FIFA’s integrity and financial rectitude. From FIFA’s US $250 billion-a-year business, alleged sleaze started as a rumour before ballooning to full scandals that later ousted Mr. Blatter.

Mr. Havelange himself, with Richardo Teixeira, his former son-in-law, who was also president of the Brazil Football Federation, was cited in some alleged scandals, of receiving illicit gifts and offering bribes. It was to Mr. Havelange’s credit, however, that he was neither formally charged nor convicted for any of these charges, after he left office as FIFA president and till his death.

Mr. Havelange’s tenure was indeed, sweet and sour. In democratising access in global football by initiating progressive reforms, he ran a rather closed shop, that was almost a cult. That opacity fired the alleged sleaze that plagued his legacy. All in all, however, he would appear a plus to football.